Refrigerating apparatus



Nov, 22, 1960 J, wHn-E 2,960,848

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 7, 1959 INVENTOR. Harve y J. hire BYMia;

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United States Patent REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Harvey J. White,Birmingham, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 832,217

4 Claims. (Cl. 62-382) be opened nearly 180, this presents no problem;but

where the refrigerator is located in a corner thereby limiting theopening of the door to 90, the inner shelves on the door block theforward removability of the shelves.

It is an object of this invention to provide a refrigerator in which theinner door shelves and the removable shelves do not interfere and inwhich there is no waste space.

It is another object of this invention to provide a refrigeratorarrangement in which the condenser and evaporator and the illuminatinglight occupy the space that is required to place the door and the innerdoor shelves when in the 90 open position at one side of the path of theforward movement of the removable shelf.

These and other objects are obtained in the form shown in the drawingsin which the refrigerant condenser is placed on the outer face of one ofthe side walls of the refrigerator within a surrounding sheet metal wallforming a duct to direct the circulation of air over the surfaces of thecondenser.

The front of the surrounding sheet metal wall is provided withventilating openings so that the refrigerator can be placed in a cornerand the ventilation for the condenser be obtained through the louvers atthe front thereof. Inside the refrigerated compartment, there isprovided an evaporator preferably in the form of a plate parallel to thesame side wall and located behind a partition wall which is used todirect the circulation of the air from the refrigerated compartment overthe evaporator. Directly in front of the evaporator is a verticalilluminating light. The pivoting axis for the hinges of the door areplaced in front of the condenser. The inner door shelves are of such awidth that when the door is pivoted on this axis to the 90 position theywill clear the path for the forward removal of the removable shelf whichis normally located between the partition wall adjacent the evaporatorand the other side wall.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention isclearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet embodying one form ofmy invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal enlarged sectional view takensubstantially along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along thelines 2-2 of Figure l but with the door in the 90 open position and withthe removable shelf moved forwardly; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the front ice of theenclosure for the air cooled condenser showing the ventilating openingsin its ornamental front wall.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1, thereis shown a refrigerator cabinet 20 provided with a front door 22 havinga handle and latch 24 onthe left side and upper and lower hinge means 26on the extreme right side. The cabinet includes left and right insulatedwalls 28 and 30, a rear insulated wall 32 and top and bottom insulatedwalls 34 and 36; To provide the inner shelves upon the door, the door 22includes a plane insulated portion with inner door shelves 38 locatedbehind the plane insulated portion. In order to prevent the inner doorshelves 38 from blocking the removable shelf 40 within the refrigeratedcompartment 42 enclosed by the insulated wall, it is necessary thatprovision be made that the inner door shelves 38 will be offset from thepath of the removable shelf 40 when the door 22 is opened 90".

To accomplish this in the most advantageous way without wasting anyspace, there is provided along the outer side of the wall 30 therefrigerant condenser 44 which may be made generally parallel to theside wall 30 and positioned within a sheet metal wall 46 forming an airduct having a rear portion 48, a side portion 49 and a verticallycorrugated front portion 50 which extends substantially flush with thefront face of the door 22 when the door 22 is closed as shown in Figure2. Within the refrigerated compartment 42 parallel to and adjacent theinner face of the insulated side wall 30, there is provided a plate typerefrigerant evaporator 52. This plate type refrigerant evaporator 52 isplaced slightly away from the refrigerated side wall 30 and ispartitioned from the remainder of the compartment 42 by a verticalpartition wall 56.

An electric motor driven fan 58 is provided at the top of the partitionwall 56 for drawing air from the top of the compartment 22 and forcingthe air downwardly over both surfaces of the evaporator 52 and outthrough one or more openings 60 provided at the bottom of the partition56. A meat container 62 is provided with its side wall directly adjacentthe opening 60 so that the cold air issuing therefrom will cool thecontainer 62 and the meat kept in there so that the meat is kept coolerthan the remainder of the compartment. This arrangement also serves todiffuse the discharge of air from the opening 60 so that the air isdistributed throughout the compartment 42.

The removable sliding type shelf 40 is located above the meat container62 and it is slidably supported for forward removal upon the slidingsupports 64 provided upon the left and right edges of the shelf 40connecting with the side wall 28 and the partition wall 56 between whichthe shelf 40 is located. To assure that the inner door shelves 38 do notblock the forward removal of the shelf 40, the door 26 is provided witha set of upper and lower hinge supporting straps 66 at the topand'botto'm extending to the right beyond the right edge of the door asshown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive. The top portion of the sheet metalenclosure 46 for the condenser 44 as well as the bottom portion thereofare provided with forwardly extending hinge straps 68. The two hingestraps 66 and 68 both at the top and bottom are provided with verticalhinge pins 7 0 which are located to the right and forwardly as far as ispossible. Particularly the hinge pins 70 are located forwardly of thecondenser 44 and just behind the front wall 50 of the condensercompartment. This allows the door 22 to readily be moved to a positionas is shown in Figure 3 in which the door shelves 38 though of amplewidth are out of the path of the forwardly removable shelf 40 as shown.This is the result of the outer position of the hinge pins 70.

This arrangement also provides space for the vertically extendingilluminating light 72 which is located forwardly of the duct andpartition wall 56 enclosing the refrigerant evaporating means 54. Thisarrangement also provides a favorable position for the resilient doorseal 74 which on its right is positioned .far enough away from the hingepin so that there is a minimum of wiping action when .the door 22 isopened and closed. This door seal engages the front edge 76 of the sidewall 30. The corrugated vertical front 50 is provided with ventilatingopenings 78 at the rear of the corrugation with narrow web in betweenthe openings to provide a unitary structu-re. The condenser 44 may be ofthe tin and tube or plate-orany other desired type which can be madewide, long and thin. The air may pass through the lower ventilatingopenings 78 and flow upwardly by natural convection on both sides of thecondenser 44 .and escape.

by the upper openings 78. The refrigerating system may have a sealedmotor-compressor unit 80 below the compartment 42 on the right sidebeneath the condenser 44 and the evaporator 52. A freezing compartment82 may be provided to the left of the sealed motor-compressor unit 80beneath the compartment42.

By this arrangement, the'refrigerator can be placed in the corner of theroom and yet ventilation is provided for the condenser 44 and the shelf40 and any other removable shelves provided may be moved forwardlywithout interfering with or being blocked by the inner door shelf 38.

-While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows: i

l. A refrigerator including an insulated cabinet having insulated sideand rear and top and bottom walls enclosing a compartment to be cooled,an insulated front door for said compartment, a refrigerant condensingmeans located alongside and adjacent to the outer surface of one of thesidewalls, a thin outer wall extending over and around and forming aduct for said condensing means alongside said one side wall, said thinouter wall extending substantially to the outer face of said door, arefrigerant evaporating means located alongside and adjacent to theinner surface of said one side wall, a forwardly removable shelfextending between said evaporating means and the opposite side wall,said door having pivoting means located beyond its edgessubstantially inalignment with said thin outer well, said doo r being provided withinner door shelves extending when in the 90 open position just short ofsaid removable shelf when extended forwardly from the interior of saidcabinet." 7 H p 2. A refrigerator including'an insulated cabinet havinginsulated side and rear and top and bottom walls en closing acompartment to be cooled, an insulated front door for said compartment,a refrigerant condensing means located alongside and adjacent to theouter surface of one of the side walls, a thin outer wall extending overand around and forming a duct for said condensing means alongside saidone side wall, said thin outer wa'll extending substantially to theouter face of said door, a refrigerant evaporating means locatedalongside and adjacent to the inner surface of said one side wall, apartition wall separating the evaporating means from the remainder ofsaid compartment and forming a duct for the evaporating means, aforwardly removable shelf extending between said partition wall and theopposite side wall and being provided with supporting mountings on saidlast named walls, said door having pivoting means located adjacent saidthin outer wall, said door being provided with inner door shelvesextending when in the 90 open position just short of said removableshelf when extended forwardly from the interior of said cabinet toprevent interference between said removable shelf and said inner doorshelves. V

3. A refrigerator including "an insulated cabinet having insulated sideand rear and top and bottom walls en- 7 closing a compartment 'to becooled, an insulated front door for said compartment, a refrigerantcondensing means located alongside and adjacent to the outer surface ofone of the side walls, a thin outer Wall extending over and around andforming a duct for said condensing means alongside said one side wall,said thin outer wall extending substantially to the outer face of saiddoor, a refrigerant evaporating means located alongside and adjacent tothe inner surface of said one side wall, a partition wall separating theevaporating means from the remainder of said compartment and forming aduct for the evaporating means, a forwardly removable shelf extendingbetween said :partition wall and the oppositeside wall and being:provided with supporting mountings on said last named walls, acontaineradjacent said partition wall beneath said'shelf adapted to containedibles to be maintained at a low temperature, said partition wall having a discharge opening in alignment with said container for dischargingcold air onto'the surfaces of said container for augmenting the coolingof said container. v

4. A refrigerator including an insulated cabinet having insulated sideand rear and top and bottom walls enclosing a compartment to be cooled,an insulated front door for said compartment, a refrigerant condensingmeans located alongside and'adjacent to the outer surface of one of thesidewalls, ;a thin outer wall extending over and around and forming aduct for said condensing means alongside said one side Wall, said thinouter wall extending substantially to the outer face of said door, arefrigerant evaporating means located alongside and adjacent to theinner surface of said one side wall, a forwardly removable shelfextending between said evaporating means and the opposite side wall,said door having pivoting means located beyond its edges substantiallyin alignment with said thin outer wall, said door being provided withinner door shelves extending when in the open position just short ofsaid removable shelf when extended forwardly from the interior of saidcabinet, the

vertical edge of said door parallel to and adjacent the pivoting axis ofsaid pivoting means extending alongside said thin outer wall when thedoor is in the closed position, said thin outer wall having a front faceprovided with ventilating openings providing ventilation around thecondensing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

